OAK RIDGE, Tenn. – In February 2016, demolition crews made their first tear into the K-27 gaseous diffusion building. Now, only months later, the Oak Ridge Office of Environmental Management (OREM) and its contractor URS | CH2M Oak Ridge (UCOR) have already completed demolition on more than 65 percent of the four-story, 383,000-square-foot facility.

   K-27 is the last of five large gaseous diffusion facilities to be torn down at the East Tennessee Technology Park (ETTP), formerly known as the Oak Ridge Gaseous Diffusion Plant. Due to the heavy contamination and state of the 1940s facility, K-27 was one of EM’s highest cleanup priorities.

   The progress taking down the facility moves EM closer to fulfilling its Vision 2016 — the removal of all five gaseous diffusion buildings from the site by year’s end. It is not only a significant goal for EM and Oak Ridge, but it will also mark the first time in the world that a uranium enrichment complex has been cleaned and removed.

   “The men and women working on this project are doing a phenomenal job,” ETTP Portfolio Federal Project Director Wendy Cain said. “I think we can attribute our success and impressive pace of work to our talented team and our organization’s ability to continually learn and apply lessons from previous projects to help us perform as efficiently as possible.”

   A significant amount of work occurred inside K-27 during the past two years before demolition crews could begin. Deactivation, which concluded in January, included removing hazardous and radioactive materials to ensure protection of workers, the public, and the environment; isolating utility systems; and ensuring structural stability. In addition, all materials that could cause a nuclear criticality were removed.

   To date, demolition crews have produced more than 4,000 truckloads of debris from the K-27 work site that have been shipped to the onsite disposal facility, known as the Environmental Management Waste Management Facility. Most importantly, all of this work is being achieved safely.

   The K-27 teardown follows successful demolition of four other uranium enrichment process buildings, including K-29, K-33, K-31 and the mile-long K-25 building. All of these facilities once produced highly enriched uranium for national defense and commercial energy production.

   All of these cleanup projects are paving the way to OREM’s ultimate goal for the site as a privately-owned and operated industrial park. Each project and accomplishment adds to the inventory of clean land that can be made available for reuse and economic development purposes.